September 22nd, 2025, Sulaimani: Preventing press conferences in Erbil and Sulaimani, without a clear legal justification, is a violation of freedom of expression, we demand that the requirement for a license for press conferences in open and closed places be removed and that organizations carry out their work freely and without repression.

On Saturday morning, September 20th, 2025, the Teachers' Professional Organization, the High Board of Leading Teachers, and the Board for the Defense of Teachers' Rights, were scheduled to hold a press conference in a park in front of the Kurdistan Parliament to read a memorandum containing teachers' professional demands, which the security forces didn’t allow them to.

Maghdid Haji from the Teachers' Professional Organization told Network 19: "The security forces did not allow us to hold the conference and did not allow journalists to approach us.” "We moved the press conference to another place and read the memorandum," he said.

On September 9th, 2025, the Kurdistan Congress of Freedom and Change was scheduled to hold a press conference in Nali Park in Sulaimani, but the security forces prevented them from holding the event on the grounds of lack of permission.

"Our goal is to defend the freedom and security of this city, but they didn't let us go and we went to another place where we held the conference.” Baha Omar told Network 19.

These two activities were not public gatherings for the purpose of demonstration, strike, etc.., as Article 1 of Law No. 11 of 2010, on Organizing Demonstrations, requires the organizers to seek permission from the relevant authorities, to which they accept or reject. Instead, they were press conferences aimed at conveying the message of the citizens to the KRG officials.

Law No. 11 of 2010 on organizing demonstrations focuses on demonstrations, marches and gatherings in public places, but does not mention press conferences, but now in most cities in the Kurdistan Region, not only in open places but also in closed halls, organizers have to ask for permission, putting it within the framework of this law.

Alliance Network 19: Preventing press conferences in Erbil and Sulaimani, without a clear legal justification, is a violation of freedom of expression, we demand that the requirement for a license for press conferences in open and closed places be removed and that organizations carry out their work freely and without repression.

Network 19 was established by a group of human rights organizations and is supervised by Metro Center. It upholds the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments on rights and freedoms, especially Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.